University of the West Indies Open Campus (St. Vincent Site) aims to offer courses tailored to the needs of Vincentians through specially designed courses.
During an interview with the Agency for Public Information, Deborah Dalrymple, Director of Site, explained how the university can expand its reach by providing training in areas where there is a need or a demand.
“The campus has to be more than just a place to get a degree. It must provide a sense of responsibility for the community, so from the start, I worked to develop programs that would engage the local community” said Dalrymple.
In order for the community to feel confident about the University, Dalrymple states that “if we need training on how to load up a truck of sand, we will offer a course on how to load up a truck with sand” and the University will continue to reach out to the community to “offer our own programmes to our own people that are not available elsewhere”.
Additionally, other activities such the renaming of the UWI special lectures in recognition of prominent Vincentians who made a contribution is part of bridging the gap between the community and the University where they feel a sense of unity; the Sir Dwight Venner’s Independence Memorial Lecture and the Oscar Allen’s Emancipation Memorial lecture are examples of this new thrust.
The University’s Open Campus has over seven hundred (700) students registered in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
